


There's No Place Like Home For The Holidays

by sarahlu



Category: Band of Brothers
Genre: I love babe's mom and sister ok, M/M, big family holiday feels, its Christmas its fluff lets go
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-26
Updated: 2019-12-26
Packaged: 2021-02-26 10:27:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,765
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21967807
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sarahlu/pseuds/sarahlu
Summary: BACK AT IT AGAIN WITH THAT GOOD SOFT SHIT!!!! Listen, its Christmas and I'm in my feelings and wanted something soft so this is my gift to y'allso enjoy and happy holidays for whatever you celebrate!!
Relationships: Babe Heffron/Eugene Roe
Comments: 3
Kudos: 29





	There's No Place Like Home For The Holidays

**Author's Note:**

> BACK AT IT AGAIN WITH THAT GOOD SOFT SHIT!!!! Listen, its Christmas and I'm in my feelings and wanted something soft so this is my gift to y'all
> 
> so enjoy and happy holidays for whatever you celebrate!!

Christmas Eve with the Heffron’s was an event everyone should get to experience at least once in their lifetime in Gene’s opinion. It was a sharp contrast to the quiet, intimate celebrations of his youth in the Bayou with his small family. 

Christmas in the Heffron family was loud and raucous with children running from room to room, the older generation smoking, and playing cards, and every family from their Front Street neighborhood seeming to pay a visit to the packed row house at some point in the night. The first year Gene had attended with Babe he hadn’t a clue what to do with himself; five years in though he was an old pro, chatting up aunts and uncles in the serve-yourself food line and catching up with Babe’s grandparents in the living room. 

Gene took in the room around him as he sat and told Babe’s grandmothers about how they just closed on their first house across the river in Camden. It had been a long road to get there. The first time meeting everyone had been more than Daunting for Gene, he knew they accepted Babe in theory but how accepting would everyone be when they saw his personal life in practice? It took a whole year for Gene to feel completely comfortable and a part of the family Babe’s parents assured him he was already. 

Looking around he saw the teenage cousins sitting in the corner engrossed in their phones, he could peer into the dining room and see the uncles and older men in a cloud of cigar smoke and their loud guffaws at the jokes being told in the room. He couldn’t see her but he could hear Anne in the kitchen shooing people out while she re-organized everything. He smiled at that, as much as he missed his own mother, Anne had filled the role as much as she could in the time he had been around. 

He finally landed on Babe who was standing by the tree with a child hanging from his neck. Bill, his wife Frannie, and the rest of the Guarnere’s had finally arrived. Gene answered the rest of the questions they had for him and excused himself to find Babe’s parents and siblings. 

“Anne, Bill is here so I think it’s now or never.” He said nervously and Anne’s eyes filled with tears and she pulled Gene into a tight hug. 

“I love you boys so much, I am so happy for you Genie.” She whispered tearfully to him. Gene smiled at the name that his two mothers used for him. Anne let him go eventually and went looking for her other children. 

Mary was in the back room with the youngest brother John. When Anne called her, her face split into a wide grin. She and Babe were a year apart in age and the closest of all the siblings. She was the first person Gene had met from Babe’s family and needed the approval of first and foremost. They lucked out and hit it off instantly, the three of them becoming as thick as thieves. She stopped and hugged Gene tightly as well, and John offered a genuine smile and a quick hug before making his way to the front room with his sister. 

The older brothers were in the dining room with their father trying to fit in with the patriarchs of the family when Anne told the three of them what was happening. The three men offered Gene pats on the back for good luck before they too joined the party for the spectacle that was about to occur. 

With one last reassuring squeeze from Anne, Gene took a deep breath and went to find Babe. He found him still by the tree but now he was talking to Bill and Frannie in the middle of telling an animated story. He smiled softly and joined Babe and their friends. 

“Ahhh, there’s our favorite Doc,” Bill said when he laid eyes on Gene. Gene rolled his eyes and wrapped his arm around Babe’s waist. 

“Ain’t a doctor yet, Bill.” He sighed. Bill laughed and shrugged. He looked at Babe who was looking intently back at him with a small smile. 

“Hi.” The redhead said softly and leaned in for a soft kiss. “Haven’t seen ya since we got back from mass.” He observed and Gene made a considering noise. Babe had been swept away by the children wanting to play with their favorite overgrown child and Gene had been content to sit back and catch up with the family. 

Gene reached into his pocket and felt for the velvet box that had been there since they left their house earlier that day. Bill shot him a knowing smirk that caught Babe’s attention. He looked at Gene questioningly. Well, Gene thought, it’s now or never. 

Bill and Frannie excused themselves and Gene steadied himself. Babe turned to face him and Gene lost his breath for a moment at the sight; Babe looked like Gene’s own personal Christmas Angel with the lights from the tree giving him the appearance of glowing. His smile was soft as he looked at Gene with so much love that it filled him with the confidence he needed. 

Kneeling to rest on one knee, he registered the hush that had fallen over the room but his eyes were trained on Babe who was wide-eyed and dumbfounded. He found his voice to begin his speech but it suddenly didn’t seem enough. Fuck it, he thought and decided to speak from his heart.

“Babe, Edward, you have been the most important part of my life since the moment you quite literally stumbled into it.” He said and watched as Babe’s wide brown eyes went glassy with tears. 

“I can never be apart from you ma moitié, and I hope I never have to be. So would you make me the happiest man on this here planet earth, and do me the honor of becoming my husband?” He finished and you could hear a pin drop in the room, everyone waiting with bated breath for an answer. Finally, Babe spoke. 

“You fucker.” And then he was on his knees as well, rooting under the tree for something. Gene looked around the room for Anne or Mary. He saw them standing together hiding their laughter behind their hands. He shot them a panicked look and they gave him a reassuring nod. He looked back just as Babe extracted himself from the tree, holding a box similar to the one in Gene’s hand. 

“Can’t believe you beat me to it. I was standing guard over here in case one of the rugrats went snooping and ruined my plan. Was gonna wait til the morning.” Babe said with a small laugh. Gene had to laugh too once he took stock of the spectacle they were putting on; two grown men sitting on their feet in the middle of the living room grinning at each other like maniacs. 

He didn’t care though, all he cared about at that moment was Babe opening the box meant for Gene. 

“So?” He questioned after a few more beats nobody saying anything. Babe tackled Gene backward, laughing and pressing kisses to his face while eeking out “Yes” in between each one. The room erupted in cheers as they sat up and slid each other's ring onto their new fiancé fingers. 

Babe pressed a hard kiss to Gene’s mouth before they were descended upon by Anne, Mary, the grandmothers, and Aunts all wanting to be the first to offer congratulatory hugs and kisses. After they were released by them, they made their way around the room to the rest of the party-goers, both getting clapped on the back and handshakes from Babe’s father and brothers. Bill and Frannie demanded a group hug since they declared they were the reason they got together in the first place. 

The rest of the party was much of the same, with more congratulations and questions about any potential plans. They answered honestly; that they planned to take it one day at a time and enjoy the process. As long as the end result was the same it didn’t matter how they got there. 

The last of the guests finally left shortly before midnight and that was when the pair excused themselves to Babe’s childhood bedroom to get some much-needed rest after the excitement of the evening. 

“How long have you been planning that?” Babe asked once they were curled together in his old double bed. It was smaller than their own, but they didn’t mind that at all since it meant they could cuddle up closer. 

“Hm. Well, I’ve known I wanted to marry you for a while now, it was just a matter of finding the right time to do it.” He hummed thoughtfully.

“Does your family know?” Babe asked and Gene nodded in the dark. “Yeah, my mama wants us down to visit as soon as we can. Said something about you mentionin’ it a pretty place to hold a wedding.” Gene laughed softly and Babe joined. 

“I did say that. I can see it too, under one of those big cypress trees. It’d be perfect.” He said, his voice dipping to a whisper on the last word. Gene brought his hand up to cup his jaw, his thumb stroking lovingly across Babe’s cheekbone. Babe leaned in and captured Gene’s lips in a delicate kiss that took a heated turn. 

“We gotta be quiet.” Gene reminded him and Babe smiled devilishly. “I can do quiet.” 

They would do their best several times that night to be quiet there in Babe’s old room, with his Eagles and Phillies memorabilia the backdrop and his humble collection of Star Wars figures an unwilling audience to the spectacle. 

In the morning they go downstairs to cheers, hugs, wishes of merry Christmas, and wolf whistles to their mortification. 

“You two ain’t as sneaky as ya think ya are.” The oldest brother Joey would point out over breakfast. They would open presents and help cook an early dinner for the immediate family returning that day for more celebration. They would laugh and overall be more relaxed with their future together secured. 

That evening, they would depart for Jersey after several rounds of hugs and kisses and promises to call with New Year's plans. They would barely make it through their front door before Gene would slam Babe back against it and begin their night of real celebration. 

Then, they would begin the rest of their lives together.


End file.
